A bird's eye view on Douglas

Douglas By Drone

Bryan Littlely

Journalist

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A sky high shot of a sugar cane harvest north of Mossman was the aim, with a near bird strike something not anticipated. Picture and Video: Bryan Littlely

Newsport’s Bryan Littlely has been busy bringing to life stories from across the Douglas Shire in recent months, and getting to know the region in more ways than one… including getting a bird’s eye view.

A keen drone operator having purchased a drone as an essential piece of farming equipment - to check on stock, fencing and gates and to find his 82-year-old non mobile phone owning father out on the family property - Bryan has also captured award-winning photographs with his drone.

He has been putting the machine to good use while with Newsport too and this week we’re sharing some of the images and video with you in a special Douglas by Drone series.

Egret Regrets

Leveraging a photo concept which earned him a gong in the 2024 SA/NT Country Press Association Awards, Bryan launched his drone over a sugar cane harvest just north of Mossman as the season neared its end.

Pleased with the results but with a need to quickly fly back as the battery charge ran low the decision to fly the drone back across the already harvested area of the crop was made to avoid a potential lost, mulched drone if it crashed.

A seemingly smart move…. Until the very active, and large flock of egrets took flight too.

The bird’s eye view almost became a view of a bird’s eye.

Egrets take flight and nearly take out the drone. Video: Bryan Littlely

We know there are plenty of skilled photographers and drone pilots across our region and we'd love to see and share your work as we celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of Douglas Shire and surrounds. If you would like to see your pictures and video published online and in print with Newsport, let us know with an email to [email protected]

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